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CNET News: Open Source: Rebels at the Gate

[Editor's Note: This article is the first part of a
four-part series CNET News has launched this week entitled "A Mortal
Microsoft". While this will be the only article LT will link to
in the series, we wanted readers to be aware of the series and of
the existence of a free
PDF document where readers can read the entire four-day series
immediately (though free registration is required). -ed.]

"For years, Bill Gates and other top executives at Microsoft
railed against the economic philosophy of open-source software with
Orwellian fervor, denouncing its communal licensing as a 'cancer'
that stifled technological innovation.

"Today, Microsoft claims to 'love' the open-source concept, by
which software code is made public to encourage improvement and
development by outside programmers. Gates himself says Microsoft
will gladly disclose its crown jewels--the coveted code behind the
Windows operating system--to select customers.

"'We can be open source. We love the concept of shared source,'
said Bill Veghte, vice president of the Windows Server Group.
'That's a super-important shift for us in terms of code
access...'"